Baricelli Inn, a landmark on Cleveland's Murray Hill, to close July 10

Peggy TurbettThe Baricelli Inn serves its last meals Saturday, July 10. According to the building's owners, The Baricelli Inn was designed and built in 1896 by Dutch architect John Grant and served as his residence until he sold the mansion to Dr. and Madame Giovanni Baricelli, both accomplished and prominent civic leaders of the University Circle community. The Minnillo family purchased the historic building in 1981, then took four years to renovate it before opening The Baricelli Inn in 1985. RESTAURANT ROW

A Cleveland dining landmark will serve its last meals next weekend. The Baricelli Inn, housed in a handsome mansion at Cornell and Murray Hill Roads in Little Italy, will close its doors after dinner service on Saturday, July 10.

The inn's operators have already stopped renting bed-and-breakfast rooms in the historic 1896 building, in anticipation of a lessee taking over the property, says Paul Minnillo, chef/owner of The Baricelli.

"After 25 years in business, I think it's just time to close," says Minnillo, one of the elder statesmen in Northeast Ohio's culinary scene. "We've had a great run."

The restaurateur has been considering closing the inn's storied dining rooms for more than a year. Almost since its inception in 1985, the Baricelli routinely has been named among the region's -- and the nation's -- finest restaurants.

"I don't mean you can't get excellent food here. It's just very difficult to succeed in that category today. People just don't eat that way -- lots of courses, and hours at the table -- anymore."

Scott Kuhn, who will be leasing the Murray Hill building from Minnillo, agrees. The 33-year-old businessman already runs the Welshfield Inn in Burton, 87 West Wine Bar in Westlake and two other restaurants in Pennsylvania. He insists on retaining the architectural integrity of "this rich and historic building people have come to know," but top-to-bottom renovations are in order, he says.

"It's a little tired, and we're going to breathe some life into the facilities," Kuhn says. When the property is reopened this fall as the Washington Place Bistro and Inn, it will be billed as a "modern American bistro with a fun spin on some traditional American comfort food and a focus on locally grown produce," Kuhn says. It will become one of the Little Italy community's rare non-Italian restaurants in memory.

RSA Architects of Chagrin Falls will lead the updating. In addition to transforming the inn's seven guest rooms into state-of-the-art accommodations, Kuhn intends to add a key amenity that has long been missing: a full-service bar. Minnillo long toyed with the idea, but feared that the noise a late-night crowd could generate might disturb the inn's overnight guests.

"With all the students, faculty and hospital personnel in the area, we want this to be a fun place for people," Kuhn says. "People thought Baricelli was a place you had to take out a second mortgage to have an evening out. We want a place where people can feel comfortable, whether they make six figures or four figures."

Meanwhile, the end of Baricelli doesn't mean Clevelanders will have enjoyed their last meal from the artful hands of its skilled chefs. Minnillo is joining in the migratory pattern taken by growing numbers of the nation's tops chefs from formal to casual.

The Plain DealerRestaurateur Paul Minnillo

This fall, Minnillo and partner chef Christopher Di Lisi, will open Flour at 34205 Chagrin Blvd. in Moreland Hills. Di Lisi's wife, Krista, will serve as general manager. The 6,000-square-foot space will have an open kitchen, an expansive bar and a menu that the partner chefs describe as "moderately priced rustic Italian." Flour will prominently feature an oversized wood-fired oven capable of baking authentic Neopolitan-style pizzas and other dishes, as well as an array of house-cured salume, antipasti, pastas and entrees.

The migration also will bring lower prices. Despite the area's higher socioeconomic bracket, "these people are no different [in their changing eating habits], even though their homes are more expensive," Minnillo says. "They're going to more casual places." The most expensive item on his new menu will be $21.

"We'd rather have [guests] in here five or six times a month, rather than five times a year," says Di Lisi.

"At Baricelli, it's been maybe two times a year," Minnillo adds.

The Baricelli name won't completely disappear. Another Minnillo enterprise will live on in a new home at the West Side Market. The Baricelli Cheese Co., which ripens and ages more than 40 varieties of specialty cheeses from around the world, will partner with Dion Tsvedos, who operates The Cheese Shop, Classic Seafood and Urban Herbs at the market.

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